Ordination. I can’t say I think much of it. I’m really not sure how biblical it is either. I do however believe in the affirmation of a community in whatever role you’re in. Of course, then we should be ordaining/commissioning our secretaries, engineers, and school teachers too, and not just church leaders.
Most would agree you’re not suppose to be acting any different after being ordained, like in baptism, it’s an extension of what you’re already doing. But at least Baptism’s in the Scriptures.
I established for myself quite a while back that I couldn’t care less for the title. And these days the idea of ordination further solidifies the divide between clergy and laity that I rail against.
But there is this tiny issue of working within the constructs of the culture we’re in and walking through life with people. Being able to marry and bury people (I’m doing my first wedding in september). Being able to affirm their citizenship and sign their passports. Being able to get into restricted areas of hospitals to visit people.
So I got myself ordained online today just for kicks. I doubt this is in anyway legitimate in Canada. I believe laws are looser in the States.
Does anyone know of any quick and legal way of a seminary grad to get ordained in Canada? Specifically in the province of Ontario? The denominations I’m somewhat affiliated with will all take years.
Here’s my hokey ‘universal life church’ certificate’
I finished Pagan Christianity by Frank Viola and George Barna about a month ago.
I can see why people say it’s a controversial book, though I really wasn’t all that shocked by the content at all. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
“If the church is following the life of God who indwells it, it will never produce those nonscriptural practices this book addresses.”
“Almost everything that is done in our contemporary churches has no basis in the Bible.”
“The stunning reality is that today’s sermon has no root in Scripture. Rather, it was borrowed from pagan culture, nursed and adopted into the Christian faith.”
“There is not a single verse in the entire New Testament that supports the existence of the modern-day pastor!”
“Nothing so hinders the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose as does the present-day pastoral role.”
“Therefore, to our minds, these passages show that every Christian has the right to participate in ‘leading worship’ under Christ’s headship.”
“Giving a salary to pastors elevates them above the rest of God’s people. It creates a clerical caste that turns the living body of Christ into a business.”
“The one who plants a first-century-styled church leaves that church without a pastor, elders, a music leader, a Bible facilitator, or a Bible teacher… They will bring their own songs, they will write their own songs, they will minister out of what Christ has shown them–with no human leader present!”
I finished 
